HTC Vive Pro

HTC Vive Pro

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Virtual Reality has been steadily growing over the past year and we have tried a lot of them here at How To Kill An Hour. We liked HTC’s Vive, we thought it was very impressive. But now HTC have upgraded and put rockets on the HTC Vive. Introducing the HTC Vive Pro!! It’s designed to meet the most hardcore of users and gamers in the Virtual Reality world and it is impressive! HTC are calling it the most immersive virtual reality to date.

HTC Vive Pro: Hardware

Firstly the headset itself, hardware, not software, has been upgraded. The face cushion has been redesigned to block even more light out to make a user feel more immersed before a game has been played. The face cushion will contour to most users faces with the use of a brand new cloth lined foam. The nose rest will shape to fit any nose thanks to a unique flower petal inspired design too! Plus the headset moves all the weight so it’s at the centre of gravity, making for comfort like no other.

HTC Vive Pro: Chaperone

A very impressive introduction to the HTC Vive pro is a feature which HTC are calling ‘Chaperone’. They’re stating that a user will no longer have to second guess their surroundings. The tech creates a virtual outline of their environment enabling them to see without ever having to remove the headset. The headset has also seen an improvement and upgraded tracking abilities. Increased colours available from the highest screen available.

Not only that the audio has seen an incredible upgrade, the Hi-Res audio has been upgraded to include, 3D Spacial Audio. Allowing the headset to deliver true to life immersive audio. The powerful amp that’s built in creates soundscapes that will transport a user into a whole different world. Noise cancellation is also included. The dual microphones allow for active noise cancellation but also safety is key and alert mode and conversation mode are included. This way you can hear what’s going on around you, thus avoiding any accidents. (Or any need to take off the headset!)

Also what a lot of VR enthusiasts have been calling out for: VR without the need for wires! For the first time thanks to Intels WiGig technology, users can use the HTC Vive Pro as they please and with full freedom!

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Also see more watch our Mobile World Congress Day 1 Vlog please click here!

 

 

 

Samsung S9

Samsung S9

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The latest update in the hugely successful Samsung S series has been released! The Samsung S9 is this years answer to last years S8. While it doesn’t look all that much different design wise. There’s a lot more going on under the hood of the device that makes it worthwhile. Especially if you like cameras.

Firstly the Samsung S9 solves something that annoyed a lot of S8 owners straight out of the gate. The placement of the fingerprint reader. On the old S8 the reader was next to the camera and a lot of users complained that they’d often print the camera and not the sensor. This time, Samsung have done the smart thing and placed it underneath the camera.

Taking a look at the specs the S9 isn’t much different, if at all, to it’s younger brother. They both share the screen size (5.8 inches) resolution (QHD) and aspect ratio. It still has a headphone jack, it still has USB type C, still has wireless charging and obviously it still looks the same. Plus IP68 dust and water resistance.

Samsung S9: So what’s new?

Firstly, the Samsung s9 has got Dolby Atmos surround sound in their upgraded speakers. All be it slightly. So you can enjoy surround sound on your phone. Specs got a little bump, the battery is 3000mah and 3500mah for the larger S9 model. 4Gb Ram and 6Gb Ram for the larger model.

The most notable thing about the Samsung S9? The camera.

Samsung’s S9 has an all new camera system, with a 12MP rear camera and the lens has seen a huge update. The rear camera has a variable aperture lens. Using Samsung’s ‘dual-aperture’ technology. You can shoot at F/1.5 and let in A LOT of light into the camera. Or, you can shoot at F/2.4 to get that super fine detail. The adjustment is all done in camera and the software adjusts itself depending on how much light is in the scene. Samsung say its around 100Luts where the camera adjusts to the bigger F stop setting and is defaulted at F/2.4. For the enthusiasts and professionals among us, there is an option to adjust these manually in the ‘pro mode’

Other camera upgrades include slow motion video, 240fps at 1080p and 960fps at 720p. Though quality may be hurt at this fast of a frame per second.

Also in something that we’ve seen before, not sure what it is called. Anyhow, Samsung are calling it ARemoji and it uses the front phone to create an emoji based on your likeness. So you can use the emoji to create videos of yourself talking in emoji form. Animals are also available if you wish to become an animal.

Samsung S9 is available March 16th 2018 and is available to pre-order on March 2nd 2018.

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

To see more watch our Mobile World Congress Day 1 Vlog please click here!

 

Nokia 8110

Nokia 8110 – Banana Phone Upgraded!

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Nokia are playing on our nostalgia once again with the success of the 3310, HMD Global are re-releasing the Nokia 8110. This time with a whole new modern and upgraded set of insides. In 1996 the original ‘banana phone’ was made famous by Keanu Reeves in ‘The Matrix’

The original 8810 was groundbreaking due to the weird but useful shape, which many dubbed a ‘banana’. It may look silly but it served a very good purpose. The shape allowed the phones microphone to be placed as closely an as ergonomically to your mouth.

The upgraded 8810 runs a ‘Smart Feature OS’  which allows for 4g connectivity. Something you wouldn’t expect from such a stripped down phone. Plus would you believe it, it even has Facebook! Well eventually it will, Facebook have said that an app will be available to download at some point.

Nokia 8110 – Apps you say?

It may look small and but it is mighty. The Nokia 8110 will include stripped down versions of Google Assistant, Twitter, Maps, and search. Alongside the usual texts, email and of course the old favourite ‘Snake’.

HMD Global, Nokia’s parent company suggest that the Nokia 8110 is a phone that we should use to switch off from the always connected modern world. That the use of their phone would be perfect for the weekend to:

“switch off, have fun and relax in the knowledge that all your smartphone essentials are there when you need them”

Will the 8810 be as popular as the previous upgraded 3310? We will soon find out when it’s released in May in the UK for a total price of £69. The banana phone will be available in black or yellow.

Do you remember the Nokia 8110? What are your thoughts on the newest upgrade from Nokia? Let us know by contacting us via our socials! @howtokillanhour

To listen to our latest podcast please click here.

To see more watch our Mobile World Congress Day 1 Vlog please click here!

Human Uber

Human Uber – It’s not what you think

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When you read the title of this blog post you’re thinking of something quite comedic. At least we did anyway when we first heard about this. We had visions of you calling a ‘Human Uber’ and someone would come along and give you a piggyback to your destination. But the Human Uber is not that. It’s something else. Something A LOT better.

The Human Uber is the nickname to a tech from Japanese researcher Jun Rekimoto. Called ChameleonMask and is kind of like a mobile facetime. According to the official website of ChameleonMask the tech is deemed as a piece of tech that “uses a real human as a surrogate for another remote user” by giving a surrogate a “mask-shaped display that show’s a remote users live face anda  voice channel which transmits a remote users voice” so a video call basically. Jun Rekimoto has described his invention as being “surprisingly natural”. Which is surprising considering what it looks like:

 

Twitter

Credit: @haleylaurenross

Human Uber: Uses

One of the uses of this tech is designed to help out your lazy friends. For example, you could help your friend move out. Or you could use the ChameleonMask and use someone else to do the work for you. While you’re actually doing it as it’s your face on another person’s body. Right?

What’s quite alarming is how is a surrogate going to see where they are walking? The tablet device is literally right in front of their face. So doing a bunch of work for someone is going to either take a lot of co-ordination with your surrogate. Or there’s going to be some sort of glasses that will help your surrogate actually see.

 

 

We’re struggling to see how this is going to work, or if it is even necessary, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Would you use this platform if it ever came to fruition? Would you be the mask or the maskee? Let us know via our social media channels. Our handle is @howtokillanhour across all platforms!

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

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Powerbeats 3

Powerbeats 3 – Your new Gym ear-phones?

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Powerbeats 3

We all love the gym. Correction. We all love to hate the gym. However, we all still go, some of us religiously, some of us sporadically. However, one thing that links us all is our love of music. Hitting the gym is great and all, but it’s nothing without your music. It’s the worst when we forget our earphones at home. No one likes the gym’s in house music. We think we have found your new favourite earphones. Plus their wireless. Let us tell you about the Powerbeats 3.

The Powerbeats 3 are the earphones to beat all earphones. They’re stylish for one and come in a range of colours. Such as:

Powerbeats 3 - Colours

Powerbeats 3 – Colours

  • Black
  • White
  • Flash Blue
  • Siren Red
  • Shock Yellow

They come with a handy wire tamer to hold the wire away from your body and neck. Therefore preventing from any potential dangerous tangles or flying out of your ears. We’re especially impressed by 12 hours of battery life. So for those who work out even up to 2 hours a day for 5 days a week will have 2 hours spare to listen to your favourite tracks.

Powerbeats 3 – Connectivity

Furthermore, connecting them to your phone is a piece of cake. Excuse the pun and resist the temptation! Simply turn on your Powerbeats 3 keep them close to your iPhone 7 or iPhone X and the phone will automatically recognise them. Click connect and you are done! As, this is all due to Apple’s X1 chipset which is found on the Beats X!

Most of all, if you’re running a little low on juice and you’re also running late to the gym. Charge the Powerbeats 3 up for 5mins and you get 2 hours of charge in these bad boys as well. With sweat and water resistance, an ability to take calls on them, there’s nothing to not like about these gym focused earphones!

To listen to the guys discussing this on the podcast please click here.

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depop

DePop: A Brand New Marketplace

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DePop – Marketplace

DePop is an app where you can sell things online right from your phone! It’s a mobile marketplace, meaning there is no desktop version of the app/platform. Therefore making our lives a whole lot easier!

Designed for the creative community, take a photo of what you want to sell with your phone. Upload it to the app with your phone. Follow your friends and explore all different shops around the world. That’s what your account is. It’s a shop. Not a place where you sell things.

Literally anything is sold on DePop from clothing, jewellery to arts and music, all from around the world. Furthermore there is even an explore page, which is listed from all the things you look at and buy. Purchase with a tap, safely and is your privacy and safety is secure with PayPal integration. Promote your shop on all your social media and grow your hobby into a business!

Community

There’s a HUGE community with over 7million users, shop from 10million different items. There are even local meet ups and lunches from around your city or town!

So whatever your level, either at hobby or business there is no other easy way to get involved in selling your stuff online. As everything is done via your phone there is no need to set up long drawn out item listings. That, is the reason why we, at How To Kill An Hour, love DePop!

What do you think of DePop? Have you used it before? Let us know what you think via our social media pages! We’re @howtokillanhour on all forms of social media!

To download DePop please click here Apple / Android

We also spoke about DePop on the show with Gadgets Jon from Gadgets Boy! To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

Huawei Mate 10

Huawei Mate 10: A HUGE screen on a cool phone.

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The Huawei Mate 10 is a smartphone that is HUGE and has a few features up it’s sleeve which separate it from the rest of the pack. Firstly, the Huawei Mate 10 has a FULL HDR display, in glorious 16:9 aspect ratio, making it perfect to watch movies on. It has an almost bezel less design, and a robust glass casing. On both the front and the back of this glorious phone! It’s Android based so all of your favourite apps are capable with it too.

Huawei Mate 10: Battery

As Gadgets Jon discussed in his episode with is the Huawei Mate 10 has a very impressive battery. On the show Gadgets Jon stated that the Huawei Mate 10 could last up to two days from an average user. Rightly so with a HUGE 4000mah battery and optimized with Huawei’s own internal software. The Smart Power Management system helps to optimize the use of the phones power and thus make your phone stay alive for longer.

Huawei Mate 10: Camera

The Huawei Mate 10 has an incredible camera, that unlike other cameras with two lenses. Uses software driven capabilities to recoreate the Bokeh effect. While it also boasts a 1.6 F stop aperture and ‘Real Time Recognition’ Which basically means the phone’s camera will easily be able to recognise the scene that it’s in (Low Light/Day time) and objetcs that are in the shot.

Despite all these super cool features, unfortunately it doesn’t have wireless charging built in. Though that is a minor compared to all the really cool features that it has. Most notably the vivid and crystal clear screen that the smartphone has is one of the best we’ve seen here at How To Kill An Hour!

To purchase please click here!

Listen to the guys chatting about this with Gadgets Jon please click here!

Sony RX100 Mk III

Sony RX100 Mk III – A super camera for beginners

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Gadgets Jon stopped by recently to give his tips on photography and cameras. He shared what he thought is the best camera for beginners looking to make the upgrade from their smartphone. The camera he chose was the Sony RX100 Mk III.

The Sony RX100 Mk III is a POWERFUL camera for it’s size, boasting a huge 20 megapixels! In such as small device is beyond impressive. It also has a lens that is capable of shooting very wide! (24-70mm) As well bringing more in for photographers to get a hold of in their scene. With an aperture of F1.8 to 2.8 allowing macro capabilities and an electronic viewfinder, it will not be long before users are finding their feet and wanting to leave the smartphone behind!

Furthermore the introduction of an electronic viewfinder allows creators to hold the camera steadily and accurately compose a shot at a very quick pace! Something with the use of screens has eliminated and damaged the beauty of a physical viewfinder! Yet it also has one! Futhermore it’s flippable so it’s perfect for all the vloggers out there, so just flip up the screen and see what your shooting behind you!

The Sony RX 100 Mk III has really good low light capabilities too, so no more noisey dark photos taken from your smartphone! The camera is built in a steady and rock solid aluminium frame giving a very premium finish. That even high end camera’s will be jealous of!

Consequently for all those that like to share their photos on the big screen there is Wifi and NFC built in. Allowing a user to easily share their creations to NFC-compatible televisions and Android phones.

Listen to the guys chatting about this with Gadgets Jon please click here!

 

Purchase the Sony RX 100 Mk III please click here!

Reikan Focal

Reikan Focal: Bring Autofocus to life!

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Gadgets Jon recently joined us recently to talk about all things camera work! He spoke very highly of a piece of software that helped him out a lot. It’s called Reikan Focal, is designed to help calibrate a users autofocus.

Reikan Focal: Calibration

Calibration is what is being done to the camera, simply attach a DSLR to a laptop that has the Reikan Software installed on it. Then let it do it’s thing for 90 seconds to 20 minutes. So, attach the FoCal Target to a wall. Place your DSLR on to a camera. Connect it to a camera. Consequently just simply follow the instructions and set up guide step by step. So there’s no hacking required! It’s literally the minimal of interaction from you. Therefore, it simply is the piece of tech you need for all the camera enthusiasts out there.

Yet, as cool as this is, the Reikan Focal will not just calibrate your autofocus. Therefore, it’s even easier to unleash your camera’s abilities! Reikan Focal can also analyse, Aperture Sharpness, Autofocus Consistency, MultiPoint Focus and Dust Analysis.

However, there are two different price points for the calibration software. Each with differing features, while there is a £20 difference between the two.

Feature FoCal Plus FoCal Pro
£39.95 £69.95
Tethered Operation
Fully Auto Calibration
Target Setup
File Mode
Camera Information Tool
Camera Settings Save/Load
Computer Support  Windows &  Mac  Windows &  Mac
Included Updates 12 months 12 months
Autofocus Consistency
Aperture Sharpness
MultiPoint Focus Test
Test all focus points
Dust Analysis
Target Optimisation
Detailed Analysis
Save detailed test reports
Compare your results with 1000s of other users
Review your test history
Long Lens Support Lenses up to 400mm focal length. All lenses, including lenses over 400mm.
Camera Support All Canon & Nikon that support AF adjustment. All Canon & Nikon that support AF adjustment.

(Reikan Focal)

NOTE: Reikan Focal works with Canon and Nikon cameras only (*Models that have autofocus adjustment)

To download Reikan Focal please click here!

Listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

Vanacci Lockstone Pendant

Vanacci Lockstone Pendant – Lock in your smell!

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Vanacci Lockstone Pendant – Cologne Saver!

Do you ever find that your perfume/cologne doesn’t last all day? No matter what the adverts say? Well introducing the Vanacci Lockstone Pendant, a really cool pendant that allows you to take control of your cologne! Spray perfume or cologne inside the pendant, screw the pendant back up and the smell will be locked in all day long! Approximately lasting 7 times longer that you normally get. You can use any scent and the pendant is corrosion resistant so you can use this for as long as you want! Since it is very absorbent and doesn’t leak all over your clothes, protecting them from potential stains.

To find out more please click here!

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